Family

Over the holiday break we have visited with lots of the family. It's been nice spending time with all of them again.

Christmas!!

Well, our 1st Christmas with Kelsey was WONDERFUL!! She was too funny. She only wanted to open presents when it wasn't time to or they weren't hers. But, she got pretty good at tearing off the paper!! Here are a few pics.

Let's Play & Hanboks, again

Today Rusty, Kelsey and I went to "Let's Play" in Lawrenceburg for open gym time. Kelsey had a great time. They really had a lot of cute things for her to play with and she loved seeing the other kids. She was good today and didn't beat up on any of them. But, she did keep rubbing this baby's head.

Well, I FINALLY got my picture of Kelsey AND Hercules in their hanboks. It was a rough few minutes for Hercules. He will probably be scarred for the rest of his life, but we managed to get through it. Here is the best one that we took, and yes, she is pulling his hair!

Howson Christmas

Last night we spent the evening with the majority of the Howson Family at my Uncle Jon's house. It was the first time many of them had met Kelsey. But, it was also the first time I'd gotten to meet the other 3 new additions to the family: Gracie, Melody, and Emry. Kelsey LOVED the babies. She gave them many hugs and kisses and loved patting them on the head. It was kinda wild having that many young kids around...just like when all of us were little.

Snow Day!!

Well, today we had our 1st snow day. Having the day off has been nice, but it is really cold outside. Kelsey was not a fan of the snow. It was too cold for her. But, we did our best and got a few pics. Ya-Ya is becoming a natural behind the camera!!

1 Year Check-up

Yesterday we went for Kelsey's 1 year check-up. She is doing very well. She has picked up a few more ounces and another inch. She is 31 inches tall and 22.6 lbs. She is above the 95th percentile for height and the 70th percentile for weight.

She also got two shots and did very well with them. We were worried she'd have a fever and be really cranky. Luckily, she has not been. We won't go back to the doctor until March and she'll have more shots then. She has already figured that out and it makes going a little difficult.

Today is a snow day for Rusty and I. We got around 3" of snow. So, we are going to take her out later today and let her play. I picked up a snow suit and boots the other day. So, she's ready for the snow. I'll probably try to post those pics later today or tomorrow. IF we get what they say we will; we may be out again tomorrow!! :)

Kelsey's Birthday Party

Well, Kelsey's 1st birthay party was a success. She loved all the fun, new toys and mommy loved the new clothes. However, she was not real hip on the cake. We started off with dinner and then had her dol ceremony. This is a traditional Korean ceremony where the child chooses 2-3 items off a table that represent different things. The ceremony is mainly done for fun now, but in the past they say the objects a child chooses will determine their future. Well, Kelsey chose a ball, a book, and a pen and in that order. The ball represents athletic ability, the book represents knowledge, and the pen is for writing or historian...traditionally a calligraphy pen is used.

After the ceremony, we had cake and ice cream. Kelsey didn't really like her cake. She stuck her fingers in it a few times. Then, she picked it up and handed it to Rusty. She was not very messy at all and didn't eat but a taste of the frosting. After cake we opened presents. She got tons of fun stuff. She wasn't very interested in the opening of the presents, but she loved what she got after I opened them. So, here are SEVERAL pictures. And think, this is only a small sampling of the multitude of pictures taken, of course. She's like a celebrity!

Kelsey's Dol Table

Candy/Food towers are tradition.

Here she is choosing her ball.

She had to check the book out before deciding to keep it.

It took her a lot longer to choose the 3rd item. I think she was getting tired of going back to the table. But, she finally chose the pen.

Okay dad, get ready because here comes the cake!

Wow, a drum...I hope they bought Ya-Ya ear plugs!

Here's my favorite gift, a ball pit and tunnel.

Here is my Uncle Willis and my new Pororo car. It plays my favorite theme song from my cartoon.

Kelsey is 1!!

Yesterday Kelsey turned one!! It was a very exciting day for her. We took her to Chuck E. Cheese for dinner and games. She LOVED it. She wasn't so wild about some of the rides, but we found a few. Rusty and I had fun playing skee ball. All we ended up winning was a bag of cotton candy.

I've also attached a few of Kelsey's 1 year pictures. They really turned out good. I'll update again this weekend after the birthday party and dol ceremony.

Turkey Day

Kelsey really enjoyed her 1st Thanksgiving dinner. She loved broccoli casserole and cranberry sauce.

She was also a huge fan of Redi Whip.

Here are a few cute pics of the babe...in one of them she was running at the camera the same time I was snapping and this is the shot I got.

We also went to Willis and Vanessa's for the Willhoite Thanksgiving. Here is a group pic.

Uncle Brian and Kelsey

Kentucky Horse Park Lights

Well, the family was all feeling a bit under the weather last week. But, we all recovered enough to go to the Kentucky Horse Park to see the Christmas lights. Here are a few cute picture of Rusty and Kelsey.

We also tried to introduce Kelsey to Santa...it was not successful. It was comical, I guess. The man was trying to get Kelsey to smile but she only screamed. While I'm trying to get Kelsey from Rusty to calm her down, the man decides it's a good time to snap the picture. I guess they wanted our $5. Oh well..great memories. Here's her 1st picture with Santa.

We also had a man draw a caricature of Kelsey...it really turned out cute.

Bubbles!!

Our newest form of entertainment is bubbles. Kelsey got to play with some at story hour last week and loved them. We'd tried her bath bubble maker once before and it scared her so we put it away for awhile. Well, we pulled it back. Now she LOVES it!!

Here is Kelsey rockin' a stylish new outfit with her cow slippers.

UPDATE...

Sorry for the long delay in updating the blog. But, things are beginning to get a little hectic around here. I am trying to wrap up my night class as well as get ready for Kelsey's birthday and all of the holiday festivities. We've not really been up to much lately. But, I do have a few new pictures for you.

Kelsey mimicks everything we do. Well, Rusty reads the newspaper everyday and Kelsey decided one day she wanted to read the paper too.

Mom took Kelsey to the library this week for story hour. She was a very good girl and an active participant in all of the activities. At some point, the librarian gave each baby a beach ball. They were all different sizes. Kelsey received a smaller ball and I guess that was not satisfactory enough for her. So, she picks up her ball and carries it over to another little boy. She gently placed her hand on his shoulder and leaned down and said, "uhhh." It must have been baby talk for give me your ball dude. The little boy handed her his ball and she gave him the one she had and walked off. She was quite pleased with herself. All we can say is at least she didn't just go over and take it. I can assume one of three things: she either is very polite, a bully, or she is manipulative. Not sure which one but I'm very glad she got the ball she wanted or the little boy may have seen her temper!!

Tonight was the fall festival at school. It was a huge success and Kelsey had a lot of fun. She won herself a cute necklace that she chewed on all evening and she had fun people watching. I think her favorite activity was the dance party. She danced with Elizabeth Vogel and it was too cute. I wish I'd had my camera handy, but I didn't. Instead I took a picture of her rummaging through my things in my room. Of course she loved pulling everything out onto the floor.

Check up

Well, Kelsey had another doctor appointment on Monday. She has picked up another 10 ounces, a new bottom tooth, and she's walking fairly confidently at times. The doctor is pleased with her progress. We did find out Kelsey has doctor anxiety...she knew she was going to get shots the minute they put her on the scale to be weighed. I guess she remembered...it took us 10 minutes of fighting to get her weight and we were all exhausted after we finished. She had to have 2 shots. The rest of the flu vaccine and polio. She handled them very well...no fever or grumpiness. So, we were all pleased.

Election Day

After waiting in line for over an hour Ya-Ya came and rescued Kelsey. So, she missed her 1st potential voting experience. She went home and took a nap. But, since it was so pretty outside we took her to the park later in the afternoon. Here are a few cute pics.